Life Under the Gun

Militarie Gun

One of my favourite tracks from that MSPAINT record is Delete It which features Ian Shelton of Militarie Gun. I was particularly impressed with his vocal style; applying a consistent amount of distortion while still being able to sing a pitch. I later come to find out that Militarie Gun signed a deal with Loma Vista Records and were set to release their debut full-length. I checked out the two singles Do It Faster and Very High and I thought they were fantastic. Both had great riffs made out of rich, full chords. Shelton's vocal melodies were much more agile than they were on the MSPAINT feature while still maintaining all the fried distortion. The band also wastes no time - coming in under two minutes in both cases - the band only runs through two instances of a verse and a chorus and calls it a single. Everything you need, and nothing you don't. If the rest of the debut could consistently deliver sunny, slacker anthems like this, I figured I would find my album of the summer.

Militarie Gun did indeed come through, delivering one straight-to-the-point, no frills banger after another. In fact, there were really only three songs that I found a tad underwhelming. After the two singles, we get Will Logic and My Friends Are Having a Hard Time. The former's chord progression and melody doesn't standout all that much to me, while the latter is a really slow moving track that is guaranteed to be the drummer's least favourite tune in the set, and also features a mind-numbing guitar arpeggio. Shelton's vocals on these two tracks feel particularly stiff as well, unable to muster any compelling melodies as he's shouting his lungs out. The band bounces back in a big way with the following track, Think Less, and then they are off to the races. This track begins with a cool fake out; opening with some Foo Fighters-style arpeggios before suddenly switching to driving power chords. Shelton really pushes himself to help bring you one of the more hardcore-tinged moments on the record. The choruses flip back to total power pop as we get sharp guitar stabs and some sweet vocal harmonies from a more measured Shelton.

Return Policy feels super heavy and grinding with some pretty heavy handed dead strums in the verses, but again opens up into a really bright chorus. I love the rhythmic chord progression on Seizure of Assets and the layering of acoustic guitar in the verses is peak 90s alternative. Never Fucked Up Once is an example of the band doing a slower jam the right way. The guitars have a really nice high-end shimmer on this track and Shelton comes through with a very impassioned performance; bearing his soul while making some pretty grand interval leaps in his vocal melody. Big Disappointment has more 90s nostalgia, especially with the time signature trickery in the verses. It gives me Toadies Possum Kingdom vibes. Jumping to the end, we close with the title track; one of the longer cuts on the record and also the most elaborate in structure. It may also be the most anthemic song on the record as the chord progression feels very triumphant and Shelton really gives it his all. The last minute of this record is so satisfying as we get a chorus of electric and acoustic guitars amidst energetic punches, and a nice buildup that leads to the record's final moment. Shelton's vocal melody is beautiful here and I also think it was clever how a ringing guitar chord resolves his unfinished vocal line. It's a cathartic, prideful, 'heavy sigh' of a conclusion.

Aside from the three songs I'm not so hot on, Life Under the Gun is the epitome of "all killer, no filler." The band proves that you don't need to pack songs with a whole bunch of ideas and bridges to make a great song. Sometimes you just need a good idea for a verse, a good idea for a chorus and that's it. Repeat that until you reach two minutes and you're good. Great production also helps as well; some crunchy guitars, punchy drums, overdub some acoustic guitar, hell, throw in some tambourine for good measure. Militarie Gun isn't reinventing the wheel, they're sticking to the 'tried and true' and killing it on the execution. It's bright, fun, energetic, has a touch of nostalgia; exactly the summer record I was hoping for.